The General Ophthalmic Services Terms of Service are now on the AOP's website (click in the link on the right of this page) as part of the consolidated regulations on the GOS. They are concerned mainly with England and, to a certain extent, Wales.
The Terms of Service are actually contained in an annex (Schedule 1) to the original regulations of 1986. In reality, there is little distinction to be made between the terms of service and the regulations as a whole. The GOS contractor is covered by all of them. Thus, it is worth having the complete regulations on the website, so that members can 'dip into' them, as and when they wish.
The consolidation has been done informally by the Department of Health and cannot be relied upon in a court of law. Nevertheless, it is sufficient for everyday purposes. The meaning of the regulations will be contained in the AOP's forthcoming updating of its Optometry Red Book and Making Accurate Claims. A further consolidation will be necessary, when the regulations are amended to introduce supplementary ophthalmic lists.
These regulations do not cover the optical voucher system.
